Cover for cut edge projections of twist-off crowns for protecting the fingers of the user



Aug. 11-, 1970 H. J. DORN COVER FOR CUT EDGE PROJECTIONS OF TWIST-OFF CROWNS FOR PROTECTING THE FINGERS OF THE USER Filed Sept. 20. 1968 INVENTOR Henry J. Dorn BY l y zn ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,523,623 COVER FOR CUT EDGE PROJECTIONS OF TWIST- OFF CROWNS FOR PROTECTING THE FINGERS OF THE USER Henry J. Dorn, Pottsville, Pa., assignor to Zapata Industries, Inc., Frackville, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 761,069 Int. Cl. B65d 41/12, 51/24, 51/16 US. Cl. 215-38 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Containers, such as beverage bottles, are provided with twist-off crowns, the sharp cut projections of which are covered with a sheet material attached to the crown to protect the fingers of the user from injury when turning the crown. The sheet material may also cover the neck of the bottle, with its lower end adhered to the neck of the bottle, a line of tear perforations in the cover material extending around the neck of the bottle below the crown and a plurality of vent holes in the cover material for ventilating the under part of the crown to prevent rusting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to improvement in containers provided with twist-off crowns. More particularly, the invention is concerned with providing a construction which will avoid inj-urying the fingers of a person using the container and turning the crown either to remove it or replace it on the container. The so-called convenience or twist-off crown has come into substantially wide-spread use in the past few years, but such crowns normally have sharp cut edge projections which present a problem with respect to the safe use of such containers.

Description of the prior art Some crown manufacturers have attempted to solve the problem by modifying the crown itself to eliminate the sharp projections, but such modifications have created other problems or turned out to be too costly.

In one instance, the projections on the skirt of the crown were tapered inwardly during crowning, but this was found to reduce the clearance between the crown and the bottle and retard proper washing of beverage from the space between the crown skirt and bottle. Furthermore, in some instances, the edge was tapered in too much so that it engaged the threads of the bottle and interfered with proper turn-01f removal. Crown modifications have included other forms, but they have encountered similar difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises an improvement in containers such as bottles, provided with twist-01f crowns having cut and crimped peripheral edges which are covered by a protective cover material firmly secured to the peripheral portion of the crown, so that it may be rotated without injuring the fingers of the user. Furthermore, the cover material avoids engagement of the fingers with the sharp cut edges and eliminates the feel of such edges.

In one modification, the cover material may comprise a band secured around the sharp cut projections of the crown and adhered thereto, so that the users fingers are not injured in turning the crown. In another modification in which the container is a bottle provided with an elongated neck, the cover material not only extends around the crown and is adhered thereto but also ex- 3,523,623 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 ice BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention is illustrated in the drawing in connection with two embodiments.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a bottle provided with a twist-off crown, the sharp edge projections of which are covered with a cover sheet which also extends along and over the neck of the bottle to provide a pilfer-proof structure;

FIG. 2 is a view of the cover material laid out flat and used on the bottle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a broken view of the upper part of a bottle provided with a twist-01f crown, the sharp edges of which are covered by a band of sheet material; and

FIG. 4 is a view of the band of sheet material when laid out flat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrated in connection with a known type of beverage bottle 10 having an elongated neck 12 with its contents sealed by a twist-off crown 14. The upper part of the bottle is provided with a thread 16 and the cut crown is crimped on and provided with a thread 18 and sharpedged projections 20. Beverage bottles with threads and crowns of the type illustrated are well known and in use. It is also well known that such crowns which are punched out of tinned sheet steel and crimped to provide projections have very sharp edges.

According to the invention, the sharp edge projections and, in fact, the peripheral portion of the crown and neck of the bottle shown in FIG. 1 are covered by a sheet of cover material 22 shown laid out flat in FIG. 2. The marginal portion of this sheet on three sides is coated with adhesive material 24 and the sheet is wrapped around the crown 14 and neck 12 and pressed against the pe riphery of the crown and the neck of the bottle. It will be noted that the adhesive on the right hand edge shown in FIG. 2 will extend over and be adhered to the left-hand edge when applied to the bottle.

In addition to providing a cover for the sharp edge projections of the crown, the sheet 22 is formed as a pilfer-proof device and, therefore, provided with a tear line 26, so that this may be broken before the crown is rotated relative to the bottle and turned off.

The tear line as shown in FIG. I is sulficiently low that the new upper edge of the cover sheet 22 will not interfere with anyone who wishes to drink from the bottle directly.

When the beverages are bottled, there is usually some moisture at the top of the neck of the bottle and around under the crown which should be permitted to evaporate. Therefore, the sheet 22 is provided with ventilation holes 28 which will extend entirely around the neck of the bottle and provide adequate ventilation. The plurality of holes 28 need not be in a separate line but can be combined with the tear line 26, so that sections of tear line extend between adjacent holes.

In applying the protective wrap or sheet, the wrapping can best be performed in a clockwise direction, so that there will be no force which would tend to loosen the crown from the bottle. In the particular instance i1- lustrated, the sheet 22 will be started from the left side and wrapped around the crown of the bottle until the right side overlaps the left on the crown and bottle, so that its adhesive will be sealed to the sheet.

The pilfer-proof protective sheet comprises three zones as illustrated, the top zone of about A" of adhesive to adhere to the peripheral part of the crown and cover the sharp edge projections, a middle zone which would carry no adhesive but would be provided with the tear line and ventilation holes, and finally, the zone below the middle zone is the lower adhesive zone carrying adhesive which secures the cover sheet to the bottle.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is illustrated in connection with a bottle 30 similar to the bottle 10. In this case the cover sheet for protecting the fingers of the user comprises a strip of material 32 shown laid out fiat in FIG. 4 and covered on one side as shown with adhesive 34. The sheet is wrapped around the peripheral portion of the crown 36, so that it covers the sharp cut edge projections and is firmly adhered to the crown. The sheet is preferably wrapped around the crown in a clockwise direction, so that the crown will not be loosened and the sheet material will be formed into a band which will protect the fingers of the user.

The upper port of the bottle and crown shown in FIG. 3 have the same structure as that described above in connection with FIG. 1.

The cover sheets 22 and 32 may be made of various materials, such as paper, cloth, plastic or foil, or combinations thereof, preferably in a thickness of from .003" to .010". The cover sheet material secured nonrotatably to the crown prevents injury to the fingers of the user and even the sharp feeling which is usually experienced by trying to turn a bare crown. The use of the protective sheet material in accordance with the invention has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive. It does not increase the torque required for turning the crown or reduce the clearance between the inside of the crown skirt and the bottle so as to interfere with proper washing to remove beverage residue.

The structure according to the invention furthermore provides protection against injury without increasing rusting problems and in one embodiment provides a pilfer-covering structure covering all or part of the neck of the bottle. In this case the sheet material may be printed with any design or labeling indicia.

In normal practice the sheet material or wrap for I claim:

1. In a container having a pour opening closed by a twist-off crown, cooperating thread means on the container and crown, the crown being of the type formed with a cut and crimped peripheral edge having sharp projections liable to injure the fingers of the user when attempting to rotate the crown relative to the container, wherein the improvement comprises a protective cover material firmly secured non-rotatably to the peripheral portion of the crown, for protecting the fingers of the user, said protective cover material being located on and preventing the feel of the sharp cut edges of the crown projections, thereby protecting the fingers of the user from injury when rotating the crown relative to the container.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protective cover material comprises sheet material extending around the peripheral portion of the crown.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sheet material is in the form of a wrap-around band.

4. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the container is a bottle having an elongated neck, and wherein the sheet material extends around the peripheral portion of the crown and also around the neck of the bottle.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lower portion of the sheet material around the neck of the bottle carries adhesive material securing the sheet material to the neck of the bottle, and a line of tear perforations in the sheet material and extending around the neck of the bottle and located directly below the location of the crown.

6. A container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the sheet material is provided with a plurality of ventilation openings directly below the line of tear perforations in the sheet material for ventilating the neck of the bottle directly below the crown.

7. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein the portion of the sheet material extending around the neck of the bottle is provided with a plurality of ventilation openings below the crown for ventilating the space below the crown.

8. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sheet material has a thickness of from 0.003 to 0.010 inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,207,853 7/1940 Clark 2l538 2,298,480 10/1942 Harvey 21538 2,954,139 9/1960 Owens 215-38 3,232,469 2/1966 Plazze 215-38 3,410,435 11/1968 Kopczynski 21539 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

